Shutdown hurts GOP, but Kentucky’s senators shine

There’s no way to sugar coat this last few weeks for Republicans on the national stage. The strategy of shutting down our government to defund or delay Obamacare failed and dropped the GOP to historically low approval ratings.

With control over only one-third of the elected federal government, I’m still unsure what those supporting the defund/delay strategy believed would result from their entrenchment. Even in the unlikely event some Democrats were persuaded to vote against a sitting Democratic president’s signature legislation, there would never be enough votes to overcome a presidential veto. I believe the tea party has often been a force for good but bluffing when your opponent can see your hand is far from “the good fight,” as House Speaker John Boehner proclaimed.

But while it was not a shining moment for the GOP on a national level, Kentucky’s two senators came out of the shutdown madness with their stock much improved. As Kentuckians, we should be proud to claim senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul as our own.

Republican leader Mitch McConnell showed why he will go down as one of the great U.S. Senate leaders in modern history. Despite having been dealt a very weak hand in negotiations, he was able to orchestrate a deal that ended the stalemate and helped move our country past this difficult moment.

While both parties had egg on their faces throughout this process, Democrats knew they stood slightly above the Republicans in public opinion and far above them in legislative leverage. Yet despite those considerable obstacles, Sen. McConnell was able to get an agreement that did not cause conservative beliefs to lose any significant ground.

The cry by some that he is a RINO because the Republican Senate leader felt neither shutdown nor default was in the best interest of our country lacks reason. Sen. McConnell acted as conservatively as the moment allowed him to act. Being a leader oftentimes means knowing when to compromise even when the results aren’t what you had hoped for.

His general election opponent also took a hit through the process with her ill-conceived “Senator Gridlock” campaign. Proving to be the antithesis of this frivolous nickname, Sen. McConnell made current Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes look small and petty. Her campaign is going to have to do better than this to prove she is ready for prime time. It will take one heck of a campaign to convince Kentuckians they are better off with a relatively inexperienced, liberal backbencher than they are with the second most powerful senator in the country, and self-inflicted loses on style points can’t invoke much confidence from the senator’s detractors.

Sen. Rand Paul also shone bright in this quagmire, revealing a useful practical streak and the ability to become an important bridge figure between traditional Republicans and tea party Republicans. Sen. Paul correctly called on both factions to understand that while we may disagree on tactic, we are united in our opposition to Obamacare.

Expressing this unifying message to a small gathering of donors would be one thing but skillfully correcting conservative host Sean Hannity on his own radio show was strong evidence that Sen. Paul’s presidential hopes should be taken very seriously. He spoke to his convictions while exhibiting the ability to disagree without being disagreeable. This is the kind of nuanced leadership necessary to stop any further damage caused by the internal conflict between Republicans — a conflict symbolized by the war of words between senators John McCain and Ted Cruz.

The next GOP standard-bearer must be able to unite both camps rarely in opposition on policy but often at odds over tactics. Sen. Paul is adeptly setting the stage for his 2016 ambitions.

And while still ultimately voting no on the agreement that reopened the federal government and avoided default, Sen. Paul has sided with Sen. McConnell after the fact and become an articulate advocate for the Republican Senate leader. Whether Sen. Paul would have been more likely to vote for the deal if he was the deciding vote, the magnitude of his vote as one of 18 against a debt ceiling increase was far less potentially damaging than Sen. Obama’s vote against a debt ceiling increase in 2006 as one of 48 in opposition. A position that President Obama has called dangerous and likened to a gun against the head of the federal government (weren’t we supposed to stop using gun metaphors anyway?) was one he took not even 10 years ago with far less breathing room.

That he is now talking about ways to make Obamacare less bad through legislation instead of the impossible defunding strategy also proves Sen. Paul understands that legislators are in D.C. to legislate, not fight unwinnable battles. Hopefully, he will be able to convince those who helped him to national prominence that “the good fight” should at least be one that has a chance of ending in a win. If he can effectively bridge this gap, we may remember this as the official making of a national leader.

Brad Cummings is COO of PM Advertising, and he previously served as Jefferson County Republican Party chairman. His column appears every third Wednesday. He can be reached at bradford.cummings@gmail.com